


Mirror, Mirror

by FeralCreed



Category: Supernatural, Supernatural Novels - Various
Genre: Archangel - Freeform, Gabriel - Freeform, Supernatural - Freeform, angel - Freeform, mirror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-27
Updated: 2014-08-27
Packaged: 2018-02-15 01:18:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2210205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeralCreed/pseuds/FeralCreed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean and Sam, followed by Cas, explore an old warehouse and find an artifact not of this earth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mirror, Mirror

“Hey, Dean, look. It's Jess.” Sam brushed a thick layer of dust from the frame and glass of the old mirror propped against a stack of boxes.

“Jess?” Dean repeated, turning to look at his brother. “No way. Where?” The floorboards of the old warehouse creaked under his feet as he crossed the wide aisle to where his brother stood. “Dude, that's just a mirror.”

“No, it's not,” Sam protested. “Look, right there. It's Jess with a couple of little kids and our old house. And...”

“And what?” Dean demanded.

“And there's me. This is amazing. Me and Jess, we've got our degrees and kids and a house and everything. Just like we always talked about.” 

Dean snorted. “Well, I don't-” Something crashed on the other side of the warehouse and both brothers turned, bringing their shotguns to their shoulders.

“Sorry,” a voice apologized.

“Cas?” Dean asked warily. “That you?”

The angel tried to maintain his dignified composure as he walked towards the brothers. At least five shades of paint dripped from the left side of his coat, streaking his pants and shoes with color. Purple bubbles frosted the top of his head, glitter dusted his skin, and he held a jar of Play-Doh in his hand.

“What happened?” Sam asked, amazed. He and Dean lowered their weapons and stared at the angel.

“I believe I found the childrens' section of stored goods,” Cas explained. “Why?”

“Nothing,” Sam replied. “Take a look at this mirror. Do you see anything strange?”

Cas set the Play-Doh down on top of a box and approached the mirror. He stared at it in silence for several seconds.

“Well?” Dean asked. “Something wrong? You look like you saw a ghost.”

“It's heaven,” Cas said. “But better. Perfected. No strife or war, as if the fighting never happened. The wars with Lucifer, my becoming God, it nearly broke the celestial city. But in this picture it's whole.”

“Really?” Dean asked. He looked at the mirror again, shuffling several steps to the right. “I still don't see anything except the three of us in a warehouse. No, no, wait a sec.” He stared hard at the frame. “Well, I'll be damned.”

“What is it?” Sam asked.

“Well, it's still the three of us, of course,” Dean said. “After all, it's just a mirror. But there's this part in the back that keeps fading in and out, like a strobe light of picture. There's you and Jess, and me and Melissa and Ben, and then there's Mom and Dad, all in front of this big house. But the picture keeps fading in and out.”

“It must be Gabriel's mirror,” Cas decided.

“What?” Dean asked.

“Gabriel's horn made everyone who heard it speak the truth. Gabriel's mirror shows everyone what they truly want most in life. For Sam, he wanted a normal life with Jessica, with children and a successful job. For me, it was heaven restored and harmony over all the earth. You, Dean, want two things. A strong part of you wants for you and your brother to have a family, and for your parents to be alive. But you have also come to terms with your life as a hunter.”

“Yeah, okay,” Dean said. “Just, give me a minute, you guys.”

“Come on,” Sam told Cas. “Let's double check the perimeter before we go.” The angel followed the human down the aisle.

Dean sat on his heels in front of the mirror. “I'll be damned,” he repeated softly. In the mirror, Sam started playing football with Dean and Ben on the front lawn of the house. Jess and Melissa arranged pies at one end of a picnic table. John flipped a burger on a grill and Mary stood next to him, her head on his shoulder. Dean gently started wiping his fingers across the images, watching them fade into smoke and disappear as he touched them.

Only the picture of himself, Cas, and Sam was left. He and Sam were laughing and Cas looked as confused as he ever did. They had cans of beer and pieces of pie in their hands, standing in Bobby's living room watching the television, probably some stupid sitcom if Cas didn't understand it. He could see the Impala through the window, shining in late afternoon sunlight. Dean stood up, smiling at the picture he'd left. “Once upon a time I could have loved a life with my parents, and Melissa and Ben, and everything. But I think what I've got now is better.”

Dean took out his phone and activated the camera, but closed it before it took the picture. Smiling faintly as he paused for one last instant, he gave one last soft “I'll be damned”. His footsteps faded as he went to join his brother and friend, and the mirror's surface reflected only his retreating figure


End file.
